Modern day Robin Hood takes aim at climate change

Actors staged a
modern-day Robin Hood performance in Wellington’s Cuba
Mall this afternoon as part of the Global Day of Action
calling on the European Union to enact a Financial
Transaction Tax (FTT), also known as a ‘Robin Hood Tax’.

Robin Hood symbolically transferred bundles of cash from
an actor dressed as a banker to an archery target
illustrating how a tiny tax on international financial
transactions could help fund domestic public services AND
the world’s poor to tackle poverty and climate change.

“We’re calling on the EU to implement a FTT and here
in New Zealand for the government to progress an
international FTT” said 350.org spokesperson Aaron
Packard.

“This is a people-friendly tax that does not
target individuals, but speculative financial transactions
associated with bonds, dividends, foreign currency exchange
and stocks. Even though it is set at a low rate of
0.05%-0.005%, it could raise billions of dollars to tackle
poverty and climate change.”

The event is one of
hundreds taking place during the Global Day of Action – an
international campaign involving many different groups
(including 350.org and Oxfam) calling for a Financial
Transaction Tax. The tax is being considered by European
Union Heads of State later this week. 350.org and other
organisations, including Oxfam, an international development
organisation, have called for 50% of the revenue of the FTT
to be allocated to poverty alleviation and climate change
action in poor countries, and the remaining 50% to be spent
on domestic public goods such as health, education and
climate change mitigation.

New Zealand, and other
developed countries, have pledged to raise $100bnUSD/yr by
2020 for poor countries to tackle climate change, which
Packard says “has to come from somewhere, and the FTT is
one of the best solutions we have at hand.” Packard
highlighted that it could also make a significant impact in
efforts to deal with poverty “because 7 days of an FTT
alone could pay for every child in the world to learn to
read”.

“Taxing these speculative transactions is one
way to serve justice for the reckless behaviour of the
financial sector that helped push millions of people into
poverty and climate vulnerability” said Packard.

350.org
is launching an online petition to showcase worldwide
support for the FTT ahead of the EU leaders meeting. The
petition can be viewed at 350.org/ftt

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